Waiting in queues is extremely tedious and time-consuming, whether it is for buying products, such as meals, shoes, or phones, or for benefiting from a service, such a haircut or a medical exam, or in places, such as the airport and the department of motor vehicles. Waiting in long queues without receiving any updates regarding anticipated time of service or information regarding the queue turnover discourages customers from return purchases or visits, and negatively affects the overall revenues and customer experience. Moreover, monitoring queues will facilitate the commercial entities providing the product or the service to better serve their customers, by increasing the number of sales assistants or service providers or providing real-time queue analytics communicating wait-times. These entities can also engage the customers in other experiences, such as providing discounts, signing them up for loyalty programs, conducting customer surveys, or visiting other sections of the facility.
Beacons are small, battery-friendly devices that send out low-voltage signals, such as Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE), for a programmable distance between about a few cm to 40-50 m. Some smartphones can act as beacons. The frequency of sending the signal can also be programmable; for example, a signal can be sent every 100-400 milliseconds. Beacons can be placed strategically indoors or outdoors to perform many actions. There is a need to integrate the beacon technology and other indoor positioning systems, so that customers can sign-in using their mobile devices, track the queue turnover, and arrive at an appropriate time to acquire the product or service. Customers can also provide other inputs to the product or service provider, such as need for additional products or services, or questions regarding memberships or products or services. Systems for queue management also need to account for people standing in the physical queue, who do not use their mobile devices or log into the queue management application.